City launches new website and MyMH portal
Back to Search
Medicine Hat – After several months of development, the City’s corporate website and myMH portal are now live. Offering an intuitive navigation, a mobile responsive design, alignment with accessibility standards and new and enhanced options to do business online – the new platforms are a pivotal step in the City of Medicine Hat’s effort to serve customers more effectively in a digital world.
“After months of preparation, we are thrilled to finally share these new platforms with the community,” said Colleen Graham, Director of Corporate Communications. “Now more than ever our residents and customers expect a convenient, online experience and we are confident that visitors will find big improvements with the new site and myMH portal.”
The new website’s architecture organizes information based on user perspective and expectations, whereas the previous site was arranged by City department. The City completed a survey in May designed to test the proposed sitemap. Participants were guided through a simulated version of the website and the results were used to make adjustments where necessary.
“We were grateful to have that feedback from our residents and want to thank all the community members who took the time to do the sitemap survey,” said Graham.
A concerted effort to streamline content and simplify language was also part of the effort.
“We expect that it will take time for everyone to adjust to the new website and appreciate the community’s patience as we work through any glitches and gaps,” added Graham. “In the coming weeks, we will actively seek feedback as part of our continuous improvement effort. In the meantime, visitors can use the feedback link in the footer of the site to advise us of any issues.”
A more intuitive customer journey was just one focus with the project, which is part of the City’s comprehensive citizen-facing digital strategy (CFDS) being implemented over the next three to five years. With a growing expectation to offer more options to do business online, the City is prioritizing the digitization of services.
“The myMH portal is a new, convenient way for residents to stay connected with the City and the information they care about,” says Craig Fruin, Manager of Application Services. “This new mobile channel allows residents to create an account that is tied to their address and uses location-based services to provide custom information. Users can create a custom dashboard of City information, bringing together all the municipal content that is relevant to them one convenient place.”
The launch of the site and portal sets the foundation for further digital transformation.
“Today marks just one step in our digital evolution,” added Fruin. “Improvements to both platforms will be ongoing, and we are excited to roll out more features and ecommerce options in the future.”
The CFDS project identifies key deliverables that support the following themes:
- Improve the customer journey
- Provide better service with less effort
- Streamline the request process
- Minimize duplication of effort
- Make doing business online easier
- Leverage existing investments
The CFDS supports the objectives of the City’s Accelerated Financially Fit Initiative (AFFI) to address growing financial challenges with the potential for between $3 million to $4.5 million in cost savings and revenue generation over a five-year period.
The City of Medicine Hat thanks the Government of Canada for supporting this project through the COVID-19 Resilience funding stream under the existing Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The ICIP COVID-19 Resilience Stream targets a broad range of projects that can be actioned and completed quickly to support employment and economic activity to help offset challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Enjoy the all new online experience at www.medicinehat.ca.
- 30 -
For further information, please contact:
Subscribe